Penny for Guiao’s thoughts

Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao is still undecided as to which import to play against Barangay Ginebra in the playoff for the second Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference semifinals slot at the Cuneta Astrodome on Wednesday.

Guiao, however, seems to be leaning on DePaul’s Quemont Greer, one of only four original imports holding on to their job since the start of the double-round classification phase last October. The others are Talk ‘N’ Text’s Damien Cantrell, Air 21’s Shawn Daniels and Purefoods’ Marquin Chandler.

But Guiao isn’t writing off import-in-waiting James Penny who’s in town ready to take over Greer’s spot.

"I haven’t decided yet," Guiao told The STAR the other day. "Greer is working harder nowadays. Penny is more of a three than a four. He’s quick and he has long arms."

At stake in the Red Bull-Ginebra showdown is an outright semifinals ticket. Purefoods earned the first slot by virtue of topping the classification phase with a 10-6 record. Red Bull, Ginebra, Talk ‘N’ Text and Air 21 wound up with identical 9-7 marks.

Based on the quotient system, Red Bull (plus 27) and Ginebra (plus 8) gained the right to a playoff for the second semifinals berth while the Phone Pals (minus 4) take on the Express (minus 31) in another playoff for a guaranteed quarterfinals seat.

The loser of the Talk ‘N’ Text-Air 21 playoff will drop to No. 5 in the standings and will face the winner of the survivor match between No. 8 San Miguel Beer and No. 9 Coca-Cola in a best-of-3 wildcard series.

Guiao will no doubt base his choice on which import could most complement his local talent, fit his system and create mismatches at different positions. Both Greer and Penny are versatile players who are almost interchangeable and about the same height. Penny’s advantage is his experience.

Greer, 24, is fresh out of DePaul University. He averaged 18.3 points and 7.6 rebounds as a senior this past season. The PBA is the first pro league he’s played in.

Like Greer, Penny played four years of NCAA Division I basketball. He wound up his varsity career at Texas Christian University in 1997-98 and has since played in the United States Basketball League (USBL) and American Basketball Association. Penny ranked sixth in scoring (19.7) and blocked shots (1.6) in the 2004 USBL season playing for the Oklahoma Storm. He has also suited up for the Niagara Daredevils, the Calgary Drillers (averaging 21.1 points last season) and the Tijuana Diablos.

Curiously, one of Penny’s teammates on the Oklahoma squad was Ginebra import Chris Porter. Penny was the Storm’s go-to guy, hitting at a 19.7 clip, while Porter averaged 13.2 points. If Penny gets Guiao’s nod to play on Wednesday, he’ll go up against his former teammate.

Greer is no slouch. He’s averaging 26.5 points and 13.7 rebounds for Red Bull. Greer was held to single digits only once in 16 games but Red Bull managed to beat Air 21, 91-85, despite his nine-point output. Greer has tallied at least 30 points in five outings. A chink in Greer’s armor is his poor free throw shooting. So far, he’s converted only 77 of 138 tries for a .558 clip.

Red Bull is coming off two straight wins over Air 21 and Coca-Cola. If Guiao gives Greer the pink slip, he’ll be gambling on an untested import and risking a break in the Barakos’ win skein.

Penny, a high-leaping slasher, averaged 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds as a high school senior in Grapevine, Texas, in 1993-94. He made an auspicious debut as a Texas Christian University freshman by scoring 17 points against Midwestern State. The Horned Frogs led the NCAA in scoring at 93.7 a game and star Kurt Thomas paced Division I in both points and rebounds.

Texas Christian coach Billy Tubbs called Penny his most physical player in 1995-96 when the forward averaged 11.1 points and shot .421 from the floor and .615 from the line. As a junior, Penny averaged 10.8 points and hit .543 from the field and .667 from the stripe. The next season, he closed out his varsity career by averaging 10.5 points and shooting .527 from the floor and .735 from the line. Penny provided instant impact off the bench as a shot-blocker, mid-range shooter and a dunker, wrote Andy Katz.

The winner of the Red Bull-Ginebra playoff will move straight into the semifinals without passing through the wildcard and quarterfinal tests. So a long rest awaits the survivor of Wednesday’s do-or-die duel.